(S1) Episode 5: To Be Human
by J. David Reed
Summary: After the events of Earth II, the Doctor went off to continue his journeys with Clara and, after Trenzalore, a strange signal pulls him back into a story he wishes he'd forgotten. With Clara, Oswin and himself all questionable, finding the real villain of the story starts to become a less black-and-white situation. Cont. from Episode 4.
1. Chapter 1: After Trenzalore

After Trenzalore, everything changed.

The Doctor knew the truth. Clara had given herself, against her better judgment, for him. To save him. every single part of him. She'd nearly destroyed herself doing it, too.

This wonderful friend of his had died again to save him.

And yet he was still thinking about Earth II. Oswin and Seripho. Tess and Miles. Everything that had happened, how Oswin had come back, had grown a new body, ready to challenge him, and them went silent. He couldn't find her anywhere, but he knew they wouldn't come out until she wanted him to.

But now it was done. Now he knew who she was, and that was what she'd wanted, right? She wanted to wait until he had all the facts.

'So that's who I am...' Clara said to him as the TARDIS took them away, far far away from Trenzalore, back to the only place he had now.

Earth.

His second home.

He was half expecting to walk out of that great big blue box into a graveyard of dying humans, the next apocalypse. Or to see Dalek ships raining down on the sky. Or Werewolves jumping out of young boys.

The world he walked out onto, however, was calm. It was night-time, just after sunset for what he could tell. Summer. Warm.

'You are Clara,' the Doctor said. 'Clara Oswald, you saved my life and everything I am.'

'Shut up.'

'That's mean!'

'I fancy ice-cream. Wanna come in for ice-cream?'

The Doctor relented for a moment, but figured, you know what? Ice-cream is always good.

He followed her into the house, where the two kids were sat on the sofa, watching some bad T.V.

'Bringing another boyfriend home?' Angie called out to them.

'It's the Doctor!' she called back.

Angie and Artie didn't move, but Angie yelled 'Don't eat all the ice-cream!'

'Ugh, okay!' Clara moaned, taking the Doctor, grinning, through to the kitchen. she checked the cupboards, then the fridge, pulling out some remnants of a pizza. 'Pizza?'

'Absolutely!'

She opened up the box, revealing a half-rotten pepperoni pizza. 'Maybe not, then.'

While she searched for something else, the Doctor wandered through to the living room, where Angie and Artie both sat on the sofa, watching a show the Doctor didn't know. It seemed far too dramatic and gory for these two.

Looking over them, he realised Artie was asleep, which was a plus. Angie, however, seemed transfixed by the scenes of people being slaughtered on screen, smiling oddly to herself.

The Doctor sat back and watched the T.V, as some person was slowly dismembered, and decided that this was something no child show watch for entertainment. Snatching the remote from Angie, and giggling whilst he did so, the Doctor went to change the channel.

Before he had the chance, however, the T.V started to flicker itself.

Both Angie and the Doctor leaned in, watching as the picture skewed. The Doctor hit the remote a few times, muttering at it.

Clara emerged from the kitchen, empty handed, a quizzical look on her face. 'What's going on?'

'T.V's all weird,' Angie said. 'He did it.'

'Did not!' the Doctor defended, his voice cracking.

'Doctor?'

The Doctor turned to see Clara, pointing at the screen. 'Is that me?'

Indeed, Clara's face was on the T.V. The screen was flickering and the picture was hard to make out, but it was definitely her.

'Why are you on T.V?' Angie asked.

The Doctor stood, realising what was going on. 'Okay. Thats not you.'

'What?'

'I mean, it is you, but it's one of you. The one from the Asylum,' he said, leaving the room.

'What Asylum?!' Angie called after them as Clara followed him out of the house and into the TARDIS.

'That version of me survived?'

'Survived as a bit of binary, floating about in space, managed to find the human soul, then use it to build her a body. She's back from the dead. She died, but she's back, and she broke the system.'

'I don't remember any of this.'

'That's because she's not you anymore, not even a part of you. She was technology for a spell, that turned her into more of a copy, like a fax. She's a carbon-copy, yes, but not the original letter.'

'And what's she doing on the T.V?'

'It's a signal. Now I know who she is, and what she is, I can stop her!'

'Stop her? From what? What did I do?'

'She's not you Clara. she killed an entire world, then brought it back to life. and she gave the order for quite a few more to be killed, actually.'

'I'm a murderer?'

'Again, not you.'

'No, but a carbon copy. That's in me. That's part of me who did those things.'

The Doctor took Clara in his arms. 'You should stay here. You've been through a lot.'

'Not a chance, Doc.'

'Clara-'

'If there's a version or a copy or whatever of me, out there, doing evil deed, then well... we never walk away, do we Doctor?'

'No we don't.'

'I'm not leaving this alone.'

The Doctor smiled, and closed the TARDIS doors behind her. He hopped to the console, searching for the signal that was transmitting into the T.V. Nothing.

'Strange,' he said, humming.

'What is?'

'I can't find the signal... oh. Oh! Oh, wait! Wait, wait, wait...' he was bouncing around the console, flicking switches and hitting buttons. 'When is a signal not a signal?'

'I don't think that makes sense...'

'When it's a T.V show!' the Doctor grinned. 'She's using the television all across the world, reaching out to me. It's a huge signal, one massive takeover. Of just her face.'

'My face.'

'I suppose.'

'Everywhere?'

'I'm guessing, yes.'

'Can you trace it?'

'Course I can!' he smiled, pushing his favourite friendly button. The TARDIS jolted into flight, dematerialising from Clara's front garden, and off after the signal.

'Where to?' Clara asked, holding onto the console, grinning.

'No idea!' the Doctor laughed.

This should be fun.


	2. Chapter 2: Good Vibrations

'I have the signal!'

'You have it?' Clara shouted as the TARDIS, louder than usual, throttled through time and/or space. 'Where's it taking us?'

The Doctor squinted at the monitor. 'Hold on, that can't be right...'

'What?'

'We're not moving.'

Clara looked around at the TARDIS, shaking and convulsing. 'Not moving?'

'Well, we're moving...' the Doctor was flung out of sight for a moment, but quickly bounced back up, hair flopping over his face, with an exhilerated grin. 'Just not going anywhere!'

'What the hell does that entail?'

'We're vibrating,' the Doctor said, clinging to Clara' arm as she was fixed by the console, keeping steady. 'Vibrating a million times a second. Transfer that over a couple of dimensions, things get shaky!'

The movement slowly died down, until it was only a dull fuzz.

'We're still going,' the Doctor said. 'The TARDIS has just got used to it.'

'Why are we vibrating?'

'It's the signal, it's dragging us through time. Usually, you think of time being a kind of forwards-backwards deal, but this is almost drilling us through the side of time's vortex, ripping it open.'

'And we're going through the scar?'

'Yes we are!'

'Into what, exatly?'

'The void, I suppose.'

'That's sounds peachy.'

'It's not working, don't worry. If we were in the void all the lights would cut out and the TARDIS would start-'

Every singly light cut out, as he had predicted. A noise, like a howling child, grew from somewhere very far away, but not outside.

'Screaming,' the Doctor finished.

Everything was silent, but for that scream. It wasn't human, that's for sure. It wasn't animalistic, either. Nor electronic.

Clara had heard a sound like that, in a pub in London a long time ago. A man named Harry was singing, playing his guitar, to a song he had dedicated to his lost daughter. His voice had ripped the way this scream did. It hit you on a level you weren't sure you were supposed to feel. It was heartbreaking.

'What do we do now?' Clara asked.

The Doctor swallowed his fear. 'Um. I'm not sure. Never really been to the void, it's kind of empty space. Nothing here. No dimension to step into... unless...' The Doctor started to laugh. 'That's what this is!'

'What?'

'It's the void, which is nothing. Space between the dimension. But what happens when you stick a dimension inside of it. A dimension, say, inside a TARDIS?'

'I don't know. What happens?'

'You create a bridge.'

'A bridge?'

'A bridge of reality. Two seperate dimensions joined by this small one. But that means she's being stretched... Oh my dear...'

The Doctor stroked a part of the TARDIS, comforting her.

'Why would I do that?' Clara asked herself. 'Maybe,' she turned to the Doctor. 'I'm trying to leave, start a new life somewhere where I'm not, you know, me.'

'Why bother?' the Doctor asked. 'She could perfectly well in our Universe for long enough, why would she need to leave now?'

Clara nodded, thinking. The console room was eeries when it was dark. Cold, even. 'Is she dead?' Clara asked.

'No,' said the Doctor frowning. He listened. 'Hear that? That scream? That's the TARDIS. Somewhere deep inside, it's heart is in pain, but not dying. It's alive. It's being kept alive.'.

'What could do that?'

'I'm going to guess Oswin. Somehow. If she's you, which she is, with every memory of every life time you've lived, then chances are she knows an awful lot about the TARDIS. Enough to keep it alive.'

'Even in the void?'

The Doctor took a deep breath. 'Apparently.'

Clara walked towards the doors.

'Don't go out there,' the Doctor warned. 'Don't even open them. There is nothing out here. No light, no dark, no up no down. Nothing.'

'But I can hear something...' she moved towards the doors, placing her hand on the wood.

'What is it?' he asked, stepping forward.

'I don't know... I can barely make it out...' She put her ear to the door.

'I'm not sure you should-' the Doctor was cut off by a screech. 'What was that?!'

'Can anything live out here?' Clara asked.

'Somethings. Cybermen, Daleks in the right ships. I'm not sure what else. It's absence, pure absence. There should be nothing.'

'Screee!'

Clara moved away fom the door, a look of fear and wonderment on her face, mirroring the Doctor. He swallowed again.

'That was something,' he said. 'Oh this is Midnight all over again! But that, that made a noise.'

'Screee!'

The Doctor bounced forwards, pushing his stethoscope to the door. 'I know that sound...'

'What is it?' Clara asked, croushing next to him.

'Them,' he nodded. 'There's a few. At least four, probably more.'

'Are they going to kill us.'

'Why, you wanna open the door?'

'A little bit.'

'Only a little? You disappoint me,' he smiled.

'Go on, then!' she nudged him. He flinched, and she gave him a look of 'seriously?'

He opened the door a tiny crack, looking out. He couldn't see anything. Darkness. Darkness wasn't supposed to be here.

Then the darkness moved.

The Doctot slammed the door, jumping back, sonic at the ready.

'What was it?!' Clara asked after a moment.

'Reapers.'

'That's sounds cheery. Friendly?'

'Not usually. When something goes wrong in time, there are a few things that can happen. Reapers are one of them. They look a bit like dragons, but they're more like the worm medieval doctors used, eating everything around a wound to clean it.'

'They clean the wound?'

'By eating everyone near it.'

'Eating? As in, eating us?'

'Yup.'

'Excellent.'

'I've met them before, when a man who should have died didn't.'

'How'd you beat them?'

'He jumped in front of a car,' the Doctor said in a very matter-of-fact tone. That wasn't a good tone.


	3. Chapter 3: Ozzy

'So, we're stuck in the middle of literally nowhere, with dragons called Reapers outside, ready to eat us alive to clean the wound made in time, I assume, that was made when we were dragged out of the time stream?' Clara very succinctly rounded up.

'Couldn't have said it better myself,' the Doctor said, eyes still locked on the doors of the TARDIS.

'Why are we here, again?'

'Because we followed that signal,' the Doctor stopped looking at the doors, closing his eyes and cursing himself. 'Of course, oh bloody hell I'm thick!'

He opened his eyes to Clara's dead expression, made eerie by the absence of lighting.

A smack at the door reminded him how vulnerable they were to the Reapers. He decided to talk quick.

'You, other you, Oswin you, she was meant to die in the Asylum. every version of you dies, all across time, all except her. Why? Because of a freak of technology. The Dalek system uploaded her, ironically, I suppose, and saved her meta-physical rear!'

'So?'

'So she broke the system! She is the rip in time, that's why the Reapers are here. If we were the original wound, they wouldn't have been here straight away. They were already here!'

'You're telling me that she was really bringing us to her, she's just surrounded by Reapers too?'

'She's alive when she shouldn't be, she's a paradox. She did die, technically, but her memories live on in the copy she made herself - that's what the Reapers are after! Not us!'

'But we still ripped a hole in the timestream, Doctor.'

'Ah. Yes. We did. Um. OH!' he smacked his forehead. 'They don't live in the void, Reapers, they live in the time stream. They float around, and when they see something out of place, they got to it. Opportunity predators.'

'Are you saying they rode us through that crack in the time stream?'

'They saw an opportunity to break out into the void, and they took it.'

'How long will they survive?' Clara asked.

'Oswin seems to be keeping the TARDIS alive, maybe she's keeping the Reapers alive too.'

'But why? Why would she invite things trying to kill her and keep them alive?'

'Err...' The Doctor smiled, and opened the doors again.

A Reaper, black, hard skin and red eyes, screamed at him and flew away, into the darkness. The Doctor laughed, looking up, seeing six Reapers flying in circles above them, in perfect concentric circles. Swirling in the night.

One swerved towards him, but didn't attack. It just flew past.

Clara joined him, watching the dark shapes flying up there, by the-

The ceiling.

They were in a room.

It was huge, and dark, but there was definitely a ceiling up there, holding them in. Air, too, the Doctor found as he stepped out.

The floor was strange - it didn't seem to be made of anything, it was just there. Something made out of nothing. Oswin.

'She made this room for us,' he said to Clara. They looked upwards, to the Reapers. 'They came along for the ride. It's the room that's keeping them, and the TARDIS alive.'

'Where are we?'

'Must be a little pocket universe. I've been in one before, but it was like a little world. This is made from nothing. Oswin built this place. A hiding place. But from what?'

'Reapers? They were obviously hunting her.'

'Maybe, but she's clever. She could find a simpler way to get them off her tail than this. This is... huge. Scary huge.'

'Well, maybe she really is just looking for a new home. Is the TARDIS still being stretched?'

'Yeah, she is. This place isn't supposed to be here at all. The TARDIS is getting pulled into a dimension that shouldn't exist. She's resisting, bless her.'

Clara and the Doctor stepped further out onto the dark, nothingness floor. It felt like walking on a new carpet - kind of squidgy. Bouncing under their feet.

'SO!' the Doctor yelled. 'We're here! Hello? Oswin?! OZZY?!'

'What the hell are you doing?' Clara asked with a hiss.

'She didn't bring us here for nothing, maybe we can help. Maybe she wants us here to help her. Like you said, she could just be trying to build a new home, away from predators.'

Clara looked up. 'Wouldn't blame her.'

'Of course, there is the chance that she's just brought us onto her turf so we're easier to kill.'

'Oh. Fantastic.'

'What would be the point?' came Clara's voice, but it wasn't her. Oswin stood by the TARDIS, looking at them. She didn't smile. 'Clara, Doctor,' she greeted them.

'So, then. Why did you bring us here?'

'Because I needed you out of the way,' she said. 'According to history, I don't exist. She does. And, according to history, you're dead, Doctor.'

'Yeah. Kind of tricked history there, didn't I?'

'Well, I'm here to put it right,' she said. Now she smiled. 'In this place, I decide what should be. And I say you two shouldn't be here.'

The Reapers stopped spinning. They hovered, still.

'if you're wondering what's going on, they're reworking themselves. Reprogramming, I suppose.'

'To what?'

'To eat you two,' she said. 'Only one of us can exist, and he was supposed to die in Utah. I'm fixing that.'

'Why you?' the Doctor asked. 'I mean, I get me. You figure yourself a little time-vigilante, eh? Fine. Kill me. But her, she's you. You're gonna murder her, for what?'

'What do you think, Doctor,' Clara said. 'All of the places we went, where she was, with Seripho. They were finding a way to sustain life from a computer. She wants to live.'

'More than anything,' Oswin nodded. 'Clever girl.'

'How did you make this place?' The Doctor asked her. 'Nice engineering.'

'I have Seripho. He's a good boy. This was his first task for me. To make a place outside of the Universe, somewhere for us to hold up.'

'That's how he jumped through time,' the Doctor nodded. 'He used the time-streams.'

'Genius, isn't it?'

'Insane, more like.'

'Maybe, but I'm okay with that. Spend enough time without emotions, without guilt, you kind of get used to killing for your own purpose, Doctor. Insane works for me.'

'So what now?' the Doctor asked.

Oswin smiled, stepping in front of the TARDIS. 'This box is fiftyt foot by fifty by fifty. How fast can you run?'

She nodded her head and all six Reapers plunged, chasing towards the Doctor and Clara, screeching away.

Oswin, meanwhile, stepped inside the TARDIS, smiling. She liked being able to enjoy things again. To feel happy.

Maybe she'd stop the Reapers. Let them go.

Ha!


	4. Chapter 4: How To Train Your Dragon

The Doctor shielded Clara, desperately waving his screwdriver in an attempt to ward of the Reapers, who for a moment might move away, but quickly figured out that he was of no real risk to them. They just kept coming.

The Doctor watched as Oswin stepped inside the TARDIS in an obvious attempt to get away. She could revive the TARDIS, then. She must be able to, if she was keeping it alive and was no wandering in.

With a brainwave, he lifted the screwdriver and sent a signal to the TARDIS. A warning. 'Don't leave yet', he sent.

He'd put in this feature after the last time someone had hijacked his TARDIS, resulting in the Master becoming PM of Great Britain, and almost wiping out humanity. Didn't want that happening again.

Oswin, to her credit, didn't seem phased, and closed the doors behind her. The TARDIS didn't budge. Doubtless she was trying.

Clara didn't want to cower behind the Doctor, but he wouldn't let her shield him. 'I'd live, maybe,' he kept saying. It was ridiculous. So bloody stubborn.

She got a glimpse of Oswin as she stepped inside the TARDIS - wearing a white top and grey trousers that hugged her legs.

Clara looked down, realising she was wearing a top the same as her, under her jacket and t-shirt. Her jeans were a dark blue, but maybe they wouldn't notice that.

'Give me the key,' she said, taking off her jacket and the top she had over the white vest. 'Doctor, now.'

'It's in a cubby hole above the 'P', I don't have one on me.' The Reapers dove and, forcing Clara and the Doctor further again from the TARDIS. 'What are you planning?'

Clara threw away her jacket and her t-shirt, so now she was just in white. She decided to go for it. She stepped forwards, to the Reapers.

They paused, seemingly confused. They stared at her, working it out.

She used the time to move towards the TARDIS, jumping up to get the key from the cubby hole.

As she bounced down, however, they seemed to clock on, lunging at her.

She squealed and jumped aside, letting a Reaper smack into the TARDIS doors, knocking them in.

There was a Reaper in the TARDIS.

Inside, Oswin turned, shocked by what was going on. Clara stood, smirking slightly, staring at her over the unconscious Reaper.

'What?'

'Hello me,' Clara said, stepping in. Oswin stepped forwards.

Another Reaper was lunging towards the TARDIS doors, turning Clara's head with it's screech.

She caught a look at the Doctor as he snapped his fingers. The doors shut on them, holding out the other Reaper.

He was outside with them, alone.

Both Clara and Oswin looked at the Reaper, then to the doors.

'What now?' Clara asked.

'How about we settle our differences and get this Reaper out of here before it wakes up?'

'I'm with that,' Clara said. They both bolted to the doors, slamming against them. They wouldn't budge.

Clara tried the key she'd taken from above the 'P', but still no result. He'd locked them in. Or himself out, with the other five Reapers.

Clara and Oswin turned to each other, at the door, and both explored their brains for their memories of the TARDIS. They both had the memories from all of their lives, for when they wanted to access them, right at the back.

Clara let them in, exploring her mind, thinking back to being a worker on Gallifrey, building and farming TARDIS', knowing their layout.

Oswin seemed to be doing the same.

'Dungeon,' Oswin said.'

'Would we get it there?' Clara asked.

The Reaper shuddered. It could smell the energy coming off the TARDIS - even in this state.

'Err... I could punch you, knock you out and leave you here for when it got up.'

'Why would you do that?'

'Because if I did, then I could sail into the universe and take up your slot in the Universe.'

'You want to become me?'

'I suppose.'

'I'll tell you this now,' Clara said, turning on the TARDIS monitor. It flashed, then sprung to life. 'I'm no murderer.'

Oswin hung her head, then eyed what Clara was doing. 'Why bother?'

'I need to check he's okay. You know him. He'll get himself eaten in a heartbeat.'

'He'd trip over those legs of his.'

'Or that chin.'

The humour was lost when the Reaper snorted. It was close to waking up.

Clara's monitor panned around, revealing a scene neither of them had expected to see. The Doctor was sat on the soft black floor, nursing a Reaper that seemed to have fallen and hurt it's wing.

'Is he...?'

'I think so.'

Just as they were watching the Doctor soniced the TARDIS again, and the doors slowly swung open.

Just in time, as the Reaper stood up and waddled it's way out of the TARDIS, towards the Doctor, setting down next to it's harmed brother.

Clara and Oswin left the TARDIS, tentatively moving towards him. The Doctor grinned.

'These guys are lovely!' he said, rubbing the injured wing-joing of the Reaper lying down.

'What the hell are you doing?' Clara hissed. The Doctor frowned.

'Well, I know they're a bit rough, but they're just like dogs. Rub 'em in the right spot and they're lining up!'

'Jeez you're like the kid from 'how to train your dragon' or something,' Oswin said. Clara and the Doctor both looked at her, shocked.

'That seems about right,' the Doctor said, rubbing the Reaper. He left it, standing. 'Go on, try it!'

The Reaper moved, spreading it's modest wingspan, flaring them out. The wings were beautiful up-close. Dark, with hints of red, like fiery veins under the thick skin. It took Clara's breath away.

The Reaper flapped, struggling initially, but eventually finding itself able to climb into the air, giving a happy, purring sound as it did so.

'Right then you two,' the Doctor said, moving towards them. 'How's it coming?'

'What?' Oswin asked.

'The catalyst thing. I'm a catalyst!' He beamed at Clara, as though this was a title he would wear proudly on a badge or something.

'You're what's making me more like her?' Oswin asked, looking at Clara.

'Eventually you'll be identical. You wanted to be human. You're getting there. Still a few empathy issues, though, but that's just the echo of Dalek technology running about in your noggin. Realistically, your evil, murderous schemes to overtake Clara's life will fade away within the day.'

'What about fixing the time stream of you, Doctor?'

'Well, now. That's just rude.'

Oswin smiled, and flickered away.

'How did she do that?' Clara asked, pointing at where her clone had stood.

'Teleport. Long-range, too. She was picked up by someone. Seripho, no doubt. Bet she still has him on a leash.'

'You don't seem too worried, Doctor.'

'Well, she's becoming more and more like you. And I like you. So all we have to do is wait and stay alive.'

'Easier said than done, I think.'

'Perhaps...'


	5. Chapter 5: Are We Flirting?

Clara and the Doctor stepped inside the TARDIS, closing the doors tightly behind them, leaving the Reapers.

'Are they staying here?' Clara asked.

'I'll open up the gap in time, they can slip back into the time vortex, off back into what we see as reality.'

'Where are we going?' she asked, moving towards him as he flicked switches, getting ready for take-off.

The Doctor didn't asnwer, meaning he didn't know.

'She evaded you for a while, didn't she?'

'Oswin? Yeah. Manaed to find a way to hide from me until I'd bene to Trenzalore. I'm guessing she was in this cube, actually. She'll be away until she wants to be found.'

Clara nodded, understanding, as the TARDIS made that beautiful sound, and whisked them away, back across the void into the time-stream, Reapers in tow.

...

Oswin opened her eyes.

She was standing - that was a plus - in a small room, covered in junk and switches and small lights. It was cramped but cosy.

Seripho stepped towards her, from the other side of the small room. Oswin smiled and moved to hug him.

Seripho raised an eyebrow and moved aside, letting her pass by. She stopped dead and evaluated what had just happened. She was turning into Clara.

Was she?

Clara didn't ever hug the Doctor. Why would Oswin try to hug Seripho?

'What the hell was that?' Seripho said, eyebrow srill raised.

'I...' she couldn't answer. She had no idea what had brought her to do that.

'What's our next step, fearless leader?' Seripho asked her.

'I thout you were leaving. Off to live a new life with your new body.'

Seripho shrugged. 'Not just much of a life to build, to be honest. I like working for you. It's fine. I get to jump around time, using that trick with the timestreams you showed me.'

'You would be better leaving,' Oswin said, dismissing him. 'I'm not sure what I'm turning into.'

'Well, I have to say I've noticed a change,' Seripho said, sitting down. 'Do you know where you are, by the way?'

'No.'

'My ship!' Seripho smiled. 'This is what I was in when I was flying past the Asylum you blew up.'

'I'm sorry.'

'That's a first.'

'What?' Oswin said, after a pause.

'Well, you don't often say 'sorry'. Kind of strange knowing it came from you.'

'What was I like?' Oswin asked. 'When I was a machine. Before you knew my name, or my voice.'

'You were more confident,' he said. 'And mean.'

'Mean?'

'Threatening. You threatened me a lot. It's how you got me into this.'

'I offered you a body.'

'After telling me that you would break my mind if I didn't.'

Oswin sat on the floor. 'I'm sorry, Seripho.'

'You destroyed my ship, half killed me and threatened my life,' Seripho said, geting off his chair to sit with her. He clicked his fingers and a thick jug of liquid came out of the wall between them. 'Why do I keep forgiving you...'

He took the jug and offered it to her. 'They call it retsuilid. Pleasant name, I know. But it's tasty. Sweet.'

'Alcohol?'

'Yeah.'

She took it from him, and Seripho smiled. 'I'm not sure whether the lack of evil-plans unnerves me or reassures me.'

'Should I be more evil?'

'I don't know. Are we still planning on wiping out the Doctor?'

'No, we're not. Or Clara.'

'How does that work? Don't you create a problem, or something. Though you were a time-purist, that there could only be one of you.'

'Who could complain with two of me?' she smiled.

Silence fell, but not an awkward silence. More of a calm, tranquil one.

'Are we flitring?' Oswin asked.

Seripho nodded. 'I think we are.'

'Excellent.'

Seripho laughed, until an alarm sounded on the dsh of the ship. His ears twiytched, and he bolted up. 'I know that sound, that's not a good sound...'

'What is it?'

Seripho didn't answer, but instead started punching in comands to the keyboard. 'Disengage!' he yelled into the speaker. 'Disengage, please!'

Oswin stood up. 'What is it, Seripho?'

'Missiles,' he said. 'Locked on, but not shot yet.'

'Who is it?'

'It's a ship... I can't tell... oh. Oh bloody hell.'

'Tell me what you see.'

'The ship, it has a 'Pyrman Corp' logo on the head. They've found us.'

'The people from Earth II? How does that work? I thought that planet was abandoned?'

'It was, but not the company. The company lives on. Apparently hunting us.'

Oswin started thinking, and her first thought was the Doctor. He could help. Would he help? Would he save her, after everything? Was she worth it?

'Can you send a message?' she asked him.

'To who?'

'The Doctor.'

'Where? What co-ordinates?'

'The ones of our box.'

'Okay. This a good idea?'

'DO IT!' she yelled, as the alarm grew.

'Three missiles,' Seripho narrated as he handed Oswin a pad to write her message on.

...

Clara and the Doctor had just set off, the TARDIS had barely pushed back through the wall of the vortex, when there was a lovely 'ping'.

The Doctor checked his psychic paper. 'I've got a message!' he beamed.

The smiled dropped from his face when he read it. One word - 'help' - and co-ordinates. Signed 'O'.

He quickly got about putting in the co-ordinates. The TARDIS howled as they spun off into the vortex, chasing that message.

'What is it?' Clara asked, surprised by the sudden change.

'I know where we're going!' the Doctor yelled over the sound of the TARDIS.

'Where?'

'No idea!

Clara frowned. 'I don't think you're sane.'

The Doctor frowned back. 'You thought I was?'

'More of a hope, really.'

'Ah. Okay!'

Clara nodded, not really any wiser for that conversation. Huh.


	6. Chapter 6: Guilty

'What was on that paper?'

'A message!'

'A message? What kind of message?'

'A cry for he-' the Doctor was cut off by the TARDIS slamming him to the ground. 'Help', he finished.

'From who?'

'Oswin, she reached out to me.'

'Oswin. Like, the woman who sent Reapers on you?'

'Yeah, and is slowly turning into you. She's getting better. A Dalek would never ask for help, she's not so Dalek anymore.'

'Right. Next question - help from what?'

'Umm. Not sure. Could be anything really.'

Clara nodded. Great.

The TARDIS landed, wherever they were, and the Doctor looked to the monitor. 'We appear to be on a ship...' he bounced to the doors, throwing them open and letting in Oswin and Seripho, who seemed to be fretting only slightly.

Oswin slammed the doors shut, and there was a band, thump and an eerie silence from outside.

'What was that?' Clara asked.

The Doctor checked the monitor and frowned. There ship's gone.'

'Missiles,' Seripho said. 'Oh, and hi.'

'Didn't you shoot me?' Clara asked.

'I shot her, too. she forgave me.'

'And you killed Adam,' the Doctor said. 'Not to mention all of those people at the Garden. And Earth II.'

'Well, seeing as that ship says it's part of Pyrman Corp, I'm guessing Earth II thinks the same,' Seripho informed them. 'Plus, why is this on me? I mean, yes I did those thing, but I was kind of at her mercy,' he pointed at Oswin, who raised an eyebrow.

'I have a feeling it's not my forgiveness you need,' the Doctor said. 'Plus, she's becoming more human with every moment. What are you?'

Seripho looked at Oswin and smiled. 'I think I'm a little bit...' he coughed. 'Human, too. Actually.'

A ping.

'That Pyrman Corp ship is trying to contact us. Righty-roo..' he hummed, turning on the monitors. A voice they all recognised burst into the TARDIS console room.

'Doctor, you are harbouring two murderers.'

'Miles,' the Doctor replied. 'You nearly killed two people.'

'It's within the law.'

'Not mine.'

'I do not answer to you, Doctor. We do not owe them anything. As a means to thank you, for what you did to save us, I will give you the benefit of the doubt. I'm sure tyhere is a reason you have for saving them.'

'Mainly it's me not liking murder.'

'Then why are they aboard.'

'They can answer for what they did, Miles. You don't have to kill them. What good is killing anyone else?'

'You know that the death penalty is in order.'

'Never.'

With that, the Doctor slammed down a lever, and the TARDIS shunted into gear, flying away into the vortex. The line to Miles cut off into static, which the Doctor let run out for a moment, before turning it off.

Silence fell upon the TARDIS, making them all shift uncomfortably. Clara was the first to speak.

'Do we have them on our tails now?'

'Yes,' the Doctor said simply.

'The whole company?'

'Yes.'

'The company that was able to get enough people under it's belt to populate an entire world?'

'It was one mega-city, I think. But yes.'

'Oh, excellent, only a mega-city.'

'What would you have me do, give them over?'

'Maybe you should have,' Oswin interrupted. 'I mean, we are responsible for the deaths of a lot of people.'

'Are you kidding?'

'Well, no,' Seripho said. 'I could say I'm sorry, but I snapped Adam's neck. I sent those people on the Garden to the slaughter. I deserve to be taken, she doesn't.' He looked at Oswin. 'She's becoming more human every day, like you said. It was the Dalek who killed those people. The Dalek in her is dying. There's enough Dalek in me to kill again, I know that.'

'You stop that,' the Doctor said. 'I stopped having mercy a long time ago and do you know what happened?'

Nobody answered.

'I nearly killed a killer. Do you see what I am? I am a killer myself. I destroyed my own race. I commit genocide weekly, did you know that? Did you know that I can't think of the last time I slept, because when I do I just see the thousands of faces that I slaughtered. I killed on orders. I murdered on whim. I am so much worse than you, Seripho. I am worse than either of you. Frankly, I'm about as bad as it gets, because I kept going. I'm still going. Still killing. I convince people they should kill themselves. I manipulate and lie and deceive my friends, for my own sake, so don't you DARE even begin feeling sorry for yourself. You are not turning yourself. Adam was a killer, and you stopped him. You did as you were told to save yourself. I've done worse for less. I am not taking you to them for that, you hear me?'

'Doctor...' Oswin stepped forwards. She didn't know what to say.

He was sweating, almost panting. He rubbed his brow, turning away. Clara approached, but he left the console room, off into the TARDIS. He didn't want to be followed, so they didn't go with him.

Clara, Oswin and Seripho sat in the console room for maybe half an hour, discussing how guilty they really were. How much of bad people they really were.

They didn't know the Doctor was sat in his study, at the back of the TARDIS, listening to their conversations on the monitors. He knew he shouldn't be watching, but they were so honest. They knew they had done bad. But he was worse.

They wanted to hand themselves in for so little.

Who would even hand himself to?

He started to think about the enemies he has killed, the creatures that had died at his hand. He was the real monster, and he knew now why that companion, back on Earth II, had been so afraid to have him as his greatest fear.


	7. Chapter 7: Welcome to Hell

'When I was in middle school,' Clara started. 'There was a boy who ended his own life, and I'm fairly certain it was my fault. He loved me and...'

She stopped talking, and Oswin and Seripho didn't question it. Oswin already knew, and Seripho didn't want to push her.

'I've spent the last year or so of my life as binary code from Dalek technology, which filtered out my emotions. I killed people, or at least gave the order.'

'I took their lives,' Seripho replied, nodding to himself as the TARDIS purred. 'And it felt good, at the time.' He swallowed. 'I've always read books and watched films and heard tales of killers and kings, and the villain was always his or her own hero. In their own world, they were doing good. To me, I was saving myself, and bringing life back to someone who had lost it.'

'You did,' Oswin said, nudging him.

'Yeah, but at what cost?'

'How did you do it, by the way?' Clara asked. 'The Doctor said you found the human soul. That you found the link between personality and physicality, the piece of humanity that lasts after death.'

'There is spectral energy everywhere,' Seripho said. 'People have it in masses. It's just technology we got lucky with once.' He looked to Oswin. 'This wasn't the first body we attempted, you know. It was perfect, though.' He smiled. 'You are perfect.'

'I like to think so,' Oswin said.

Clara could see it. It wasn't hard. She had spent so long without any emotions, this girl. She was bound to have feelings bouncing around inside her. And he was already proving how dedicated to her he is.

'If I gave myself to them, do you think they would let her go?' Seripho asked the Doctor, as he walked in from the door opposite the small console room. The dim, blue light made the lines in his face seem close to bursting through his skin.

'I doubt it. Pyrman Corp is a company that you brought down, who have employed a person who is convinced you are the worst thing in the universe. Because of me.'

'You stop that,' Clara said, standing up. She approached him, punched him on the shoulder, making him smile, and then took him in a hug. 'Stop that now.'

The Doctor sniffed, holding something back. 'Miles is good though,' the Doctor continued. 'We could try just talking to him.'

'In your mind,' Oswin said. 'You are harbouring two murderous time-travellers and ran when he tried to take us down.'

'He might listen.'

'Aren't you the optimist,' Seripho said, with a hint of bitterness. 'Fact is Doctor, you go to talk to him, one of us isn't coming back.' He looked at Oswin. 'She fought for life, she deserves. Everything she did, blame that on the Daleks, not on her. And you two, well, the Universe needs you. You're heroes, even if you screw up every now and again. Who doesn't, right?'

'I'm not leading you to your death, Seripho.'

'Why not?'

'Because she needs you,' Clara interrupted.

Seripho turned to Oswin, who looked a little shocked. 'Whut?'

Clara stepped forwards, between the two. 'Oswin was Dalek, but she beat them. They tried to kill her, but she got out. And she was doomed. But there you were. You saved her. You brought her life, a body. And now you're giving her her soul back. You found the human soul just to give hers back. Oswin was nothing like me, and the Doctor was supposed to be the catalyst to make her more human, more Clara, more Oswin. But he's not. The Doctor is nothing to do with it. It's you, Seripho.'

'What's me?'

'The catalyst. You are what's changing.'

'How do you make a Dalek, Oswin?' the Doctor asked.

'Subtract love, add hate,' she said, remembering.

'So to make a human?

Oswin closed her eyes. 'Subtract hate. Add love.'

'Add love.' The Doctor smiled, looking to Seripho and Oswin. 'Add love,' he sang, clapping his hands.

Clara took each of them in her hands, and joined them, pushing them together,

'Why are you holding back?' Clara asked Oswin.

'I don't...' she looked at Seripho, who looked equally worried. Something told Clara that he had never loved anyone before. She wondered how long hate had consumed him.

Oswin pulled Seripho in, and for the first time the Doctor saw that he had no idea what the hell he was doing. Always so confident, but now he was bumbling.

Oswin hopped up and kissed him. She clung to him, and he held her in his strong arms, holding her up to his lips. She hummed under him and he couldn't help but smile.

Clara had to stop herself from squeaking with happiness for her clone.

Oswin eventually let him go, and Seripho put her down, still grinning. She punched his chest and he laughed. She had never heard him laugh like that before. It was gruff, gravelly. It made her smile.

'I forgot that you humans like doing that...' the Doctor said disapprovingly. 'So much kissing. All the time. Seriously. It's strange. Whole species.'

'I'm not human,' Seripho reminded him.

'Nah, but you're a sub-species. Same difference.'

Oswin coughed, and smiled. 'I can feel it,' she said, clutching her chest. 'It's like... I don't know. Hot, but good. Warm. Fuzzy.'

'Welcome to hell,' Clara joked, nudging her. Oswin laughed.

'He's your catalyst,' the Doctor said to Oswin. 'He makes you human.'

'What about you, Doctor?' Seripho asked him. 'What keeps you human?'

'I'm not human either,' he said. 'But I've loved.'

'River?' Clara asked.

The Doctor laughed. 'I suppose. And others. There was someone, before River, who I lost. She was with the two faces before this one.'

Seripho looked completely lost.

'When I get fatally wounded, I regenerate,' the Doctor said. 'Complete work-over. New face, new everything. And she... she helped me move away from war. My ninth regeneration died in love, and so my tenth was born in love with her. When I lost her, I went mad. I was born in madness, you see. Maybe that's why I am the way I am. I was born out of loss and madness.'

Oswin took Seripho's hand. 'What was her name?'

'Rose Tyler,' the Doctor said. He looked to the floor. 'She's happy. Somewhere. Might even have kids, now. I don't know. I never even told her...'

Clara sat on the floor, and Oswin took her lead. Seripho followed, leaving the Doctor standing. 'Tell us about her,' Clara told him.

'About Rose?'

'Yeah.'

'What do you want to know?'

'Everything that made you love her. Why you didn't get to tell her. Where she is. Anything you want.'

The Doctor sat down, joining them. Even the TARDIS quietened, as though listening softly to his own confession. He spoke of how they met. How the girl with no A levels changed his life, made him better after the Time-War. Saved his life. He spoke of her falling out of this Universe and him having to shut her away. Of her coming back. He told them about the clone of his tenth regeneration. He let it all out. Finally.

When he spoke, it was almost as though she were here with them, listening. She would have hated hearing the way he talked about her - in past tense.


	8. Chapter 8: Just a Thing

'So what do we do now?' Oswin asked. 'Are they going to keep following us?'

'They won't find us here,' the Doctor said. 'They can't track across time. Almost impossible.'

'We managed it,' Seripho pointed out.

'But that's because you knew where I was going. I had Clara with me in the places you knew I was having to go. After I left her at home it took me ages to meet with you again.'

'Is that so?' Clara asked.

'What happened on Earth II is coming back to us now, though. Miles, working for Pyrman Corp. It's madness,' the Doctor coughed.

'Where are we, by the way?' Oswin asked.

'In that little box of yours, outside the universe.'

'Are the Reapers still here?'

'Nope, peaceful. Atmosphere is stable, somehow. Whatever you did to build this place is fascinating. You're much smarter than you let on, Seripho.'

Seripho nodded, accepting the compliment. 'Thank you. Not that it was all me. My fearless leader did give me pointers.'

'What can I say,' Oswin grinned. 'Screaming genius - kind of a thing.'

'A thing?' Clara smiled.

'A big thing. Important thing.'

The Doctor stood, leaving them to their banter. He knew they would have to confront Miles at some point. If not they would keep hunting, and they would find Oswin and Seripho, wherever they went. Pyrman Corp seemed to be a big, rich company. Maybe it had invested in time-travel. Maybe it had invested research into finding out what exactly happened on Earth II. Maybe they developed the technology, in fear of the Doctor.

The Doctor checked the monitors, looking out at the black box he had landed the TARDIS in again. The TARDIS still didn't like it here, but it was getting used to it. She was more alive this time, as though she had made reserves of power, knowing that she was coming back. Clever girl.

'What power source do you have here?' the Doctor asked Oswin and Seripho.

'The Black-hole,' Seripho answered.

'You have a black-hole as a power source?'

'THE Black-hole. The first. Ever,' Oswin corrected him.

'TimeLords invented black-holes, you know that?'

'Then this box is suckered next to it. At some point in time, anyway. That's what's good about this place. It exists out of time, but also next to it, seeping off different points, everywhere, every-when.'

'Little box powered by a black-hole. sounds familiar...' Clara smiled.

The TARDIS gave a purr, as though acknowledging it herself. The Doctor watched the monitors still, feeling as though there was something wrong. Out of place. He couldn't put his finger on it.

'Doctor?' Clara called, snapping him out of it. He shook his head, laughing a little.

'Sorry. Just... a thing.'

'A thing?'

'Anyone else feel like we're being watched?'

They all paused and, with some thought, had mixed responses. Oswin nodded. Seripho shook his head. Clara stayed still.

The Doctor moved to the TARDIS doors, opening them a crack. 'Something's not quite right.' He stepped out onto the soft, shifting floor, looking around.

He could see, from here, the crack they had come through. It was lodged in the black, dark wall. A blue, shimmering slice in the wall of nothing.

'Could they trace us here?' Oswin asked. 'Is it even possible to trace something outside of the Universe?'

'Maybe,' the Doctor said, thinking. 'I hope not.'

'But they could,' Seripho said, joining him outside. 'Pyrman Corp had a lot of money. If they knew they would have to track us... track you, then they might have invested in this kind of thing.'

The crack shimmered.

'I think you might be right.'

A spark flew out of it, which lead to the crack widening a little.

'Something's coming through, isn't it,' Clara said. All of them were outside the TARDIS now, watching the crack in the wall.

It was almost instant - the crack split wide open and the ship fell through, crashing down near them, on the other side of the box. It seemed to just flop, as though robbed of any energy.

Quiet fell.

The ship had the Pyrman logo on the side, and they knew it was Miles inside, probably plotting to kill them. Arrest them. Condemn them. Whichever he chose.

It was a sleek ship, Seripho noted. White, with the black logo and 'Pyrman' printed in big black letters on the side. It was shaped like a teardrop, with a pointed tail at the back.

The front of the ship splayed open, moving back on itself and revealing Miles and Wayy underneath, watching them. Guns raised, of course.

'You are all coming with us.'

'You're not authoritative here,' the Doctor said. 'Not your universe, not your laws. Plus, you're not actually law enforcement, and you tried to kill two people, so there's that, too.'

'Doctor-' Miles began, but Seripho stood forwards.

'What do you want of us?' he asked, using the tone he had first used with the Doctor. Confident, a little sarcastic, but stern.

'Personally, nothing,' Wayy said. 'But the guys up at Pyrman Corp know that we were in contact with you, and that you created one of the greatest losses they've ever had. It's your head, or ours, so...'

'Is that right?' Oswin said. She stood next to Clara, and Miles frowned.

'But... how is there two of you?'

'Made another body, I suppose?' Wayy jibed.

'I was here first!' Clara yelled, pointing at him.

'In anycase. You took these people in when we were supposed to destroy them,' Wayy said to the Doctor. 'Therefore you come with us.' He lifted his gun. 'Not a question, either.'

'Yes, well. I can see that.' It was obvious that the Doctor was trying to think of something to say, when Wayy seemed to get impatient. He pointed his gun at Clara, threatening to pull. He shifted it to Oswin, and Seripho flinched.

'Oh, she the important one?' Wayy smiled. 'Well, if you want her intact, you're gonna have to convince her to come calm-' he was cut off as Oswin punched him square in the jaw, knocking him to the soft ground.

''Convince' me. Arse,' she smirked.

Seripho smiled, but as he looked down to Wayy, to move his gun, he saw that Wayy wasn't knocked out. He had his gun in-hand, aimed at Oswin's chest.

He fired, sending a blue, glowing bullet into her sternum.


	9. Chapter 9: World Of Nightmares

Oswin staggered back, unsure how she was supposed to react. It hadn't started hurting yet. It was warm, not cold like she'd expected.

The bullet came from below, so it blew her up and back, throwing her down, facing the ceiling. Not having noticed it before, she now saw that the ceiling of her box was not soft, or fuzzy like the rest - it was just black. Hard and cold.

Seripho soon blocked her view, having stepped over her. He was asking her something, probably if she could hear him. She couldn't. Not even like he was far away, or down a corridor. She could see him, bright as day, but there was no sound. She wondered whether there was a reason for that.

She had died before, she realised. Back in the asylum. The planet had been exterminated, and her with it. If Seripho hadn't been flying by, looking for scraps in orbit, she would have never have survived. She was lucky, unlike the rest of the Daleks. That 'save' function that ensured her safety was only going to last a few seconds after the destruction of the shell. She was the only one to make it to his ship. The Daleks, in insane ones, they perished because the army was scared of them.

She tried to talk, but Seripho pushed her lips together. She saw him turn away, screaming. In anger. Maybe at Wayy. He had shot her and Seripho seemed to care.

Why should he care?

She was a flirty girl, always had been. It was a part of her that she used to get by people. Make them like you without actually having to give anything away. But Seripho had watched her, helped her, even, move from a piece of code stuck inside his spaceship into a human being. He found her soul and built her a body, and all because she asked him to.

She told him to kill and he did, without question.

She told him to feed people to creatures and he did. Without question.

He loved her, she knew. Maybe that made her a bad person? She used his love, without even knowing it, for her own gains. And those gains had lead her to fall in love right back. This body, those bloody hormones and genitals and a soul... they added up to giving her something she couldn't control around him.

She heard the bang. It was the first thing she heard since she hit the floor, and it seemed to snap everything back into place.

Her ears started working again, and she could hear Seripho's heavy breathing as he put a second bullet in Wayy's head.

The Doctor's voice strained as he pulled Seripho away, and Clara was now over Oswin, cradling her, willing her to keep breathing.

'We need to get her to a hospital!' Clara yelled. 'How long will she last?' she shot at Miles, who seemed shock he was even being considered.

'That's a grav-bullet. It's not just a hard shell, that's draining her, from the inside out.'

'How long?'

'Minutes.'

Clara stepped back, hers and Oswin's eyes locked. It was like she was looking at her own death - her body, dying in front of her. She knew that was a selfish thought, that Oswin was her own person and deserved her own life to continue, but that image just stuck. This is what it would look like if she got to watch her own death scene.

'What does a grav-bullet do?' Clara asked. 'Drain her - what does that mean?'

'It mean it's stealing her electrical energy, doesn't it, Miles,' Seripho spat. 'The human body is a battery, and once you suck the energy out of it, well, she's nothing more than a shell.' He stepped up to Miles, and the Doctor jumped between them.

'No more,' the Doctor warned Seripho. Seripho responded with a snort through his nose and turning away to see Oswin. His entire body shape seemed to shift in a second.

His shoulders slackened, his chest released a breath that came out a whimper. He hands met each other, then he bent down, lying on the floor with her.

Oswin smiled as he met her gaze, coming to her so she could see him. Her eyes were failing.

The blue glow was getting brighter, hotter now. It was starting to burn. She still felt no pain.

'I found it, Oswin,' Seripho whispered. 'Your soul. I built you back up around it. You have a soul, you're going somewhere better.'

'You hope,' she smiled, her words barely even a whisper. 'We never got that drink.'

'You shush now,' Seripho told her, holding a smile together.

Miles watched, then looked to Wayy's body, lifeless on the floor, face-down. He seemed to be the only one here who wasn't a killer. Maybe Clara, too, but death was spread all over this room.

He had only wanted to help people. That's what the Doctor did, he knew. He had helped the Doctor take down Seripho's plan, stop Tess from converting Earth II into a world of nightmares.

But here he was, protecting everyone. He just wanted death to stop, Miles realised. The Doctor didn't care about justice, or at least didn't see that as justice. Where was the justice in death?

Miles moved for Wayy's gun, but Clara stopped him.

'Not smart,' she said, holding his hands away. Miles realised he had tears in his eyes from thinking about what he was going to do.

'I know,' he said, with a splutter. 'Seripho.'

Seripho turned to see Miles, reaching for the gun so close to Clara, and lurched forwards.

Miles was faster, however, and made it to the gun and put it in the air, not pointing it at anyone. Seripho slammed into him, tackling him to the ground, thinking that Miles was going to use it on Clara - or anyone. He wanted Miles far, far away from any weapon, seeing as Pyrman Corp was obviously out to get them, and Miles seemed to believe that they were murderers and the scum of the universe, which they very well might be.

Trapping Miles down, Seripho didn't see Oswin reaching for him until the Doctor pulled him up, calling at him to take him to her.

Oswin was close now, her eyes seeming dim and her hand frail. It was as though she had aged twenty years in a minute and a half.

Clara felt sick watching her, and so turned her attention to Miles instead, who was holding the gun and getting up. The Doctor pried it out of his hands and threw it away, a look of cold fury on his brow.

Oswin held Seripho's hand as she passed.

It filled him with rage, then an emptiness, then tears that threatened to burst from his eyes. He didn't know what to do. She had been his guide for so long, and now she was just gone...

Seripho let her hand fall to the ground and, with tears now burning his eyes, moved towards the Doctor.

'Why did she have to die?' he asked him, his voice croaking and strained.

'I'm sorry I'm-'

He was cut off as Seripho picked him up by the collar, but the Doctor didn't fight it. He just waited until Seripho slackened again, letting him down and taking the Doctor in a hug, which Clara was brought into.

Miles didn't know what was supposed to happen next. He just hoped it would be quick.

He knew Seripho wasn't the forgiving type.


	10. Chapter 10: Only Time Would Tell

Seripho broke away from the Doctor and Clara, giving Miles a hard, stricken look, then moved to Oswin on the floor. Her body was still glowing a faint blue glow as she lay silent and unmoving.

Seripho seemed to swallow something, breathing in a deep, solidifying breath, and moved to pick her up.

He crouched next to her, looking away from her blank eyes, and slid his arm, clad in leather, under her neck. He lifted her legs with his other hand and, with little effort, lifted her up to him, standing with her safe in his arms.

One of her arms slid off her chest, hanging from her, limp. Clara stepped up to Seripho, and placed Oswin's hand back where it should be, and he thanked her just by closing his eyes to her. She knew it had helped, letting him know she cared about Oswin.

Seripho turned to the great, glowing gash that scarred the wall of the box in which they stood.

The Doctor cocked his head, and realised what he was planning to do as Seripho began to walk towards it, Oswin in his arms.

'Seripho think about this,' the Doctor said, moving after him as Seripho didn't stop. 'You'll die, you'll both die!'

'She's already gone, Doctor.'

'We can fix it, she's lived through an exploding planet, her and Clara have both died literally thousands of times,' the Doctor tried to move in front of Seripho, but he didn't falter, pushing him out of the way. They were almost at the scar now.

'She spent her life a part of time, Doctor,' Seripho said. 'I spent my time following her, chasing you. Killing, threatening. I did awful things, didn't I Miles?'

Miles didn't answer. He was shocked to have even been mentioned. He suddenly felt a massive amount of guilt for what had happened here. If he and Wayy hadn't followed the orders given to them by Pyrman Corp, they wouldn't have been here. OSwin wouldn't be where she was.

'She was starting to...' Seripho stumbled over his words.

'Seripho, it's okay,' Clara said, standing between him and the scar once he was reached it. They all stood around it now, listening to it's crackling energy and feeling the blistering heat even from here. 'She forgave you.'

'Maybe she did,' he said, sadly. 'Maybe she felt like I was a good person. A forgivable person. I felt that about her.'

'You don't need to do this, Seripho. No one else needs to die.'

'Perhaps you're right, Doctor,' Seripho said, straightening his back. 'But some of us want to.'

With a single lurch, and a yell from the Doctor as he tried to pull Seripho back, he stepped into the scar, and was torn apart by the lightning energy in seconds, along with Oswin. Strands of lightning blew back the Doctor as Seripho and Oswin became dust and were thrown into the vortex, scattered amongst everything.

The box fell an eerie quiet

Miles was the first to leave, knowing that what had transpired here was down to him, his actions had caused this.

Then again, it was because of Clara that Oswin had existed in the first place - she was a copy of her. If Clara hadn't been here, neither would anyone.

And then there was the Doctor's guilt. Everything everyone else thought was on their shoulders, he felt upon his. Miles was a kid, who the Doctor had dragged into this mess. Clara had saved his life by jumping into his time-stream at Trenzalore, creating Oswin Oswald. He was even the cause of the Asylum of the Daleks exploding, destroying Seripho's ship and almost killing him.

Miles moved to his own ship, the one he and Wayy had come in. Wayy was dead, and Miles had no respect for him, so he left the body in this place outside the rest of time, to rot.

The Doctor and Clara stayed a little longer, and broke the silence.

'Do you think they're together?' Clara asked.

'What do you mean?'

'Like, in an after-life. They found the human soul. Maybe their souls found each other.'

'Seripho wasn't human.'

'He was close. And you know what I mean.'

'Well,' the Doctor said, slumping away, breaking his look at the scar for the first time in maybe ten minutes. 'You're right. They did find it. Maybe they are.'

'You're telling me that through all they went through, they don't deserve to be together.'

'Everybody deserves to be with the one they love,' he said.

'They did love each other,' Clara said, finding herself smiling. 'After all that death, shooting me, torturing people, they still found love. The Dalek and the Murderer.'

'Not quite the same ring as 'the pig and the showgirl'...'

'What?'

'Never mind. Just... thinking.'

They left the scar, crossing the soft floor to the TARDIS, who stood, waiting for them, regal and glowing amongst the light.

'She's feeling a bit sick,' the Doctor said, stroking the TARDIS door. 'Shouldn't have been here this long. Making her queasy.'

'Well, she was ripped out of her own universe and feed on some kind of interdimensional life support. Give her a break.'

'I thought you two weren't getting on.'

'We found middle ground.'

The Doctor stopped as he was opening the TARDIS, and stuck out his tongue a little as he thought.

'What is it?'

'Well, you know on Earth II, I told you there was a future companion of mine who had been turned into me because I was their biggest fear, and the only thing I learned about them was that they weren't human?'

'Yeah.'

'Well, it was Seripho who sent those invitations to get them to Earth II. He knew who it was. He knew who I scared so much they would fear me like that.'

'Who do you think it was?'

'No idea, haven't met them yet. But for Seripho to know, they must be a fairly major part of my life, and it can't be too far away...'

He stopped, allowing Clara to move past him into the TARDIS, which they both realised was freezing cold. 'Heating must have blown. I'll fix that.'

'Doctor,' Clara called for his attention.'

'Yes?'

'Take me home. I need...' she started to cough. The reality of what had happened was just starting to hit her.

'You just watched a person with your face die, and then be carried by their love into a scar in time. You can take a few weeks off, if you'd like?'

'Please...'

'I mean, it's not like it's a job or anything. You don't need to fill in a notice, Clara. I get it. I think I'll be taking a holiday, too.'

The TARDIS landed at Clara's address, apparently only a few moments after the TARDIS had left the last time, as her face was still on the T.V when she got in.

She hugged Angie and Artie, who had fallen back to sleep, and gave them both ice-cream. She just wanted to have a quiet few days.

The Doctor did something similar. Took a week to fix the heating, even though he could have done it in half an hour if he'd tried. He liked editing the software, updating it, re-inventing it. Fiddling.

He just needed to calm himself down.

But that thought kept bugging him - what would he do, in this not-so-distant future of his, that would scare a companion into that state of anxiety?

Only time would tell, and that scared him.


End file.
